Puerto Rican oriole | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Icteridae |
Genus: | Icterus |
Species: | I. portoricensis |
Binomial name | |
Icterus portoricensis H. Bryant, 1866 | |
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The Puerto Rican oriole (Icterus portoricensis), or calandria is a species of bird in the family Icteridae, and genus Icterus or New World blackbirds. This species is a part of a subgroup of orioles (Clade A) that includes the North American orchard oriole, Icterus spurius, and the hooded oriole, Icterus cucullatus.
The Puerto Rican oriole was previously grouped with Cuban oriole (Icterus melanopsis), Hispaniolan oriole (Icterus dominicensis), and Bahama oriole (Icterus northropi) as a single species, (Icterus dominicensis). In 2010, all four species became recognized as full species by the American Ornithologists' Union. [2]
The oriole is endemic to Puerto Rico. Its natural habitats are the tropical forests, mangrove forests, and plantations. The bird also shows a natural preference for nesting in palm trees. [3]
After breeding, adult Puerto Rican orioles and their young will remain together in a family group. It primarily forages in dense vegetation looking for a wide range of foods that includes fruits, insects, lizards, and nuts and grains. [3]
Males and females are similar in size and color. Males weigh about 41.0 grams and females weigh about 36.6 g. The average wingspan of males and females is 96.9 and 92.1 mm, respectively. [4] In 2008, Hofmann, Cronin, and Omland, conducted a study that showed there is little color difference in the feathers between the males and females of many tropical orioles, including the Puerto Rican oriole. [5] This means that males and females both have elaborate colors, in contrast many temperate-zoned birds have brightly colored males and dull colored females.
Adults are black with yellow on their lower belly and shoulder. The closely related Hispaniolan oriole (Icterus dominicensis) and Bahama oriole (Icterus northropi) have more yellow on their bodies, but, the Cuban oriole (Icterus melanopsis) has more black. [3]
Juveniles are tawny colored with an olive tint to their rump. [4] Puerto Rican orioles develop their bright colors as they age. The tawny color offers a selective advantage to the adolescents since by helping with camouflage in the dense forest. This is likely the ancestral state for the genus Icterus.
Both males and females of the Puerto Rican oriole sing with no obvious difference in song structure. The song of the Puerto Rican oriole is composed of clicks or “high pitched whistles” [4] and has a frequency range between 3.6 and 5.3 kHz. The bird combines between 15 and 27 different notes to make up their song. [6] Due to gender and geographic bias in studying predominantly male samples of temperate-zone birds, which do not exhibit female song, it has historically been assumed that only males of the Puerto Rican orioles sing. [7] However, in 2009, Price, Lanyon, and Omland conducted a study that shows that both males and females of many tropical orioles sing. [8] This has been substantiated by 2016 documentation of female song in Puerto Rican orioles by Campbell et al., proving that song is not a method of communication solely possessed by males. [9] The research theorizes that the prevalence of female song correlates to a tropical lifestyle wherein there is increased female-female competition and territory defense that necessitates such communication. Additionally, ancestral state reconstruction of the Caribbean oriole clade shows that female song is an ancestral trait.
Most members of this genus are thought to be monogamous, establishing lifelong bonds between males and females. The Puerto Rican oriole breeds primarily from February through July. It lays about three eggs per clutch. [3] The eggs are white with a bluish hue with light lavender-gray-brown speckles and spots. [4] The nests are structured as a basket made from woven fibers of palm material, and are usually suspended from the underside of a palm leaf by two points. One threat to oriole nesting is parasitism by the shiny cowbird, especially in coastal habitats. [3]
Icterids or New World blackbirds make up a family, the Icteridae, of small to medium-sized, often colorful, New World passerine birds. The family contains 108 species and is divided into 30 genera. Most species have black as a predominant plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange, or red. The species in the family vary widely in size, shape, behavior, and coloration. The name, meaning "jaundiced ones" comes from the Ancient Greek ikteros via the Latin ictericus. This group includes the New World blackbirds, New World orioles, the bobolink, meadowlarks, grackles, cowbirds, oropendolas, and caciques.
New World orioles are a group of birds in the genus Icterus of the blackbird family. Unrelated to Old World orioles of the family Oriolidae, they are strikingly similar in size, diet, behavior, and strongly contrasting plumage. As a result, the two have been given the same vernacular name.
The Venezuelan troupial is the national bird of Venezuela. It is found in Colombia, Venezuela, and the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, Trinidad, and Puerto Rico. Together with the orange-backed troupial and campo troupial, it was previously part of a superspecies simply named the troupial that was split.
The moriche oriole is a passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It is unrelated to Old World orioles. It is a breeding resident in the tropics of eastern South America. This bird is noted for its close association with the palm Mauritia flexuosa.
The Puerto Rican spindalis is a bird endemic to the island of Puerto Rico, where it is commonly known as reina mora. The species is widely distributed throughout the island and is an important part of the Puerto Rican ecosystem because of its help in seed dispersal and plant reproduction. The Puerto Rican spindalis is the unofficial national bird of Puerto Rico.
The Puerto Rican woodpecker is the only woodpecker endemic to the archipelago of Puerto Rico and is one of the five species of the genus Melanerpes that occur in the Antilles. Furthermore, it is the only resident species of the family Picidae in Puerto Rico. The species is common on the main island of Puerto Rico and rare on the island of Vieques.
The yellow-shouldered blackbird, known in Puerto Rican Spanish as mariquita de Puerto Rico or capitán, is a species of blackbird endemic to Puerto Rico. It has black plumage with a prominent yellow patch on the wing. Adult males and females are of similar appearance. The species is predominantly insectivorous.
Spindalis is a genus consisting of four non-migratory species of bird. It is the only genus in the family Spindalidae. The species are mostly endemic to the West Indies; exceptions include populations of western spindalises on Cozumel Island, off the Yucatán Peninsula's east coast, and in extreme southeastern Florida. The species were traditionally considered aberrant members of the tanager family Thraupidae. Taxonomic studies recover them as a sister group to the Puerto Rican tanager, and some group Spindalidae and Nesospingidae within the Phaenicophilidae.
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The Martinique oriole is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is endemic to Martinique, French West Indies. Martinique is a part of the Lesser Antilles, and is located in the Eastern Caribbean.
The yellow-backed oriole is a species of bird in the family Icteridae.
The Jamaican oriole is a species of bird in the family Icteridae.
The black-cowled oriole is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is common and widespread in the Caribbean lowlands and foothills from southern Mexico to western Panama. It lives primarily in humid or semihumid forest, as well as in clearings, along forest edges, in plantations, in semi-open areas with scattered trees and bushes, and in gardens. The adult male is black, with yellow on the belly, shoulder, rump, wing lining, and crissum. The female's plumage varies depending on location. In the south of its range, it is similar to that of the male. In the north, its crown and upperparts are olive-yellow, while its face, throat, upper breast, wings, and tail are black.
Laguna Tortuguero Natural Reserve is a natural reservoir located between the municipalities of Vega Baja and Manatí in Puerto Rico.
The Hispaniolan oriole is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
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